rae_bookmarkchronicles's reviews
677 reviews

Amari and the Despicable Wonders by B.B. Alston

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Definitely going to read the next one but why did B.B. do us like that?
Blood Colony by Tananarive Due

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 8%.
I really enjoyed the first two books in this series but it's been almost a year since I read book 2. It also feels like its stating to shift to focusing on the next generation and I don't want that
King of Ice: The Cartel Elements Series: Book 3 by Asia Monét

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challenging dark emotional lighthearted sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Perfect conclusion to the series. Brielle did piss me off at one point but still worth it
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Death by Dumpling by Vivien Chien

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mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I'm surprised that I actually finished this. Lana was definitely annoying at times....and stupid. The fact that this was written in 2018 is clear through the writing cause some of it is definitely dated but it wasn't terrible. 

One thing that annoyed me was the
constant references to Lana's past relationship. We never find out what happened or why so what was the point in mentioning it? Also she's been moping about it and it's been over a year...
Rise of Empire by Michael J. Sullivan

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adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed Theft of Swords and this was such a disappointing follow up. It felt way too long, we were introduced to all these new characters for what and then the ending kinda pissed me off.
With that said I do think that we've been set up for a really epic ending but we'll see if that is true.
Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez

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Did not finish book. Stopped at 33%.
From the beginning I was not a fan of Alexis but assumed maybe she would grow on me, However
her going on a girls trip to Daniel's bed and breakfast and pretending not to know him was so disrespectful. I understand that they are from different worlds and she wants to protect him from criticism but do that by having a conversation instead of hiding him like a dirty little secret who likes to slum it shits and giggles. Also her parents suck.
A Legend in the Baking by Jamie Wesley

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hopeful lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I really love August and Sloane together however  this book does not need to be this long. There are so many separate subplots that keep getting in the way of the actual story that were unnecessary and it felt like she was just dragging everything out including the sex scenes. 

In my opinion the whole thing about their past was so overexaggerated.
Sloan KNEW he was in a relationship and kissed him anyway but then claimed he broke her heart when he remained faithful. Yeah she was seventeen but that's really not an excuse. Then she's holding on to her parents relationship as if that's meant to define hers. That is literally not how that works.

I can understand  adding a few different subplots so that characters have things aside from the relationship going on their lives however between Sloane trying to get a job, August's ex-wife, Sugar Blitz Two, people protesting the new shop, and him trying to date his fans (which was a terrible idea to begin with) it was all too much. Them deciding the create a community center was the most obvious thing, I don't understand why it was made to be a reveal and yes great way to tackle the topic of gentrification but all of those things are once was not necessary


Still a cute story and would recommend for people who enjoy brother's best friend, forced proximity, and slowburn workplace romances
Second Chance Christmas by Jahquel J.

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challenging emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

This is a great example of a second chance romance! While tragic circumstances caused our couple to split 15 years ago the chemistry when they reunite is like they never left. I also appreciate that they didn't keep ignoring the elephant in the room and they had the conversation that was necessary to move forward pretty early on. I love how accepting of each other's circumstances they were and how they supported each other. 

I did not understand why
we had Ashton's POV. He's a piece of shit, he was a terrible husband and he's not a great father. He literally doesn't try with the twins and he always tried to look for a reason to be mad at Faith and then is like "oh but she's right" Stop trying to argue and work on actually being there for your kids


Personally there were some tropes that I didn't love and I found the dialogue during sex scenes cringey  but overall it was a good time.
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Fake It Till You Bake It by Jamie Wesley

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hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.5

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this. Highly recommend if you want a super cute fake dating story
Can't Catch Me by Alexandra Warren

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funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.75

Alexandra Warren is funny af. I was constantly laughing out loud while reading this. Love the chemistry and the relationship which is crazy because I hate friends to lovers. Cannot wait to read the rest of the series!